Good Cause for Continuance in Family Court Washington State

by Samuel K. Darling, Bellevue Family Law Attorney

This commodity explains how to respond to a motion in a Washington Land divorce or family law case. Information technology too explains how to answer to a "bear witness cause lodge", sometimes called an "order to get to courtroom" or "firsthand restraining order". The process for responding is the aforementioned in both situations.

Table of Contents
1) Overview of the Process
2) The Documents You lot'll Need
three) Where & How to Send Your Documents
4) If You Need More than Time
5) Objecting to the Answer
6) Arguing the Hearing
7) Presenting Orders

I. Overview of the Process.

one. The Other Side'south Motion. The procedure begins with the other side serving you lot with a document called a movement. A motility is a request for the court to do something. The about common motions are for temporary orders, such as a temporary parenting plan or temporary kid back up guild. You lot should as well receive various supporting documents, i of which is called a calendar annotation, notice of hearing date, guild to go to courtroom, or show crusade order. This document tells you when and where the hearing on the motion will accept identify. At the hearing a gauge or commissioner decides whether to grant the requested relief.

ii. Your Written Response. You typically need to answer in writing a calendar week before the hearing. The exact timeframe varies depending the kind of motion and the county's local rules. Thankfully the calendar note served with the motion usually warns you of the response deadline. If you don't know the responsive deadline, y'all should at least briefly consult with someone who understands the local rules for the county, such as a local chaser, LLLT (the equivalent to a nurse practitioner), or family law facilitator. Family unit constabulary facilitators are the least expensive option at $10 per session.

3. If You Don't Take Time to Reply. If you don't have time to answer or need extra time to hire an attorney, you tin request a constancy. A continuance pushes the hearing to a later date.

4. The Other Party'southward Reply. The moving party is allowed to rebut your response with a written document called a reply. It'southward typically the last give-and-take either party is immune prior to the hearing. The exception is if the other opposing party's reply breaks ane or more rules.

5. Objecting to the Reply. If the other side'southward reply breaks rules, you lot tin can submit a written objection.

half dozen. The Hearing. Usually the parties and their attorneys, if whatever, appear in court for the hearing and are permitted to present oral argument. Then the guess renders an oral conclusion.

7. Orders. The last stride in the process is when the parties draft written orders and the commissioner or estimate signs them into effect.

II. The Documents You'll Need.

Now that you have an idea of how to the process works, let'southward get into specifics.

Typically your written response to a motion is the core of your defense, and the core of your written response is your declaration. But non always, and sometimes you need many more documents, such equally a proposed parenting programme, proposed child support worksheets, a fiscal annunciation, and financial source documents (what a long list!).

Here'southward how you know which documents you'll need and how to prepare them:

1. Mirror-Epitome Rule of Thumb. The rules dictating which documents you should submit can be hard to find, since information technology depends on which county y'all're in and the type of motion. The easiest way for a layperson to figure out which documents to use in a response? Employ the aforementioned documents the moving party did. You tin can exclude the motion and agenda notation (or testify cause order, sometimes called an social club to go to court). Yous'll need the other types of documents the moving party submitted.

If the moving party submitted one or more declarations, you should too. If the other side submitted a proposed parenting plan and kid support worksheets, you'll want to likewise, and and then on. Click here for articles on parenting plans and kid support calculations. Y'all'll probably find templates for all the documents yous'll demand at the Washington Court Forms Website > Family unit Law.

Sometimes it'due south hard to place whether the other side submitted a announcement, because it's "subjoined" to the motion. This means the declaration's added to the document chosen a motility, oft at the cease. If the movement or part of the motion is signed "under penalisation of perjury", that'due south a subjoined declaration. You'll want to submit your own declaration(southward) in response.

If yous need to provide the court with briefing on the constabulary, consider submitting a split up legal memorandum. Click the link in the preceding judgement for an editable case in Word.

ii. Declaration(due south). Equally mentioned above, the declaration(s) you submit in response are usually the cadre of your defense. Hither's a link to an article on drafting declarations in support of a motion. Drafting one or more declarations in response to a motion is the same procedure, but with a single deviation. You'll want to add an extra section to your own announcement (the party proclamation) titled something similar "Unfair Accusations". That extra department is where you rebut whatsoever of false or misleading statements that warrant additional attention.

Here're examples of various responsive party declarations:

• Declaration in Response to a Move for Temporary Orders in a Divorce
• Proclamation in Response to a Motility for Adequate Crusade and Temporary Orders in a Parenting Plan Modification
• Declaration in Response to a Motion to Modify Temporary Orders

3. Supporting Documents. Only as explained in the commodity on drafting declarations in support of a motion, yous'll want to gather documents in defense of your position. The procedure is the same in both scenarios, and then delight refer to the other article.

4. Response to Revision. There's ane common simply very dissimilar scenario you should be enlightened of. That'due south when the other side submits a motion for revision, which is a motion for a guess to have a 2nd look at a commissioner's decision. In that situation y'all tin can't submit any declarations or supporting documents in response. You tin but submit a responsive cursory arguing the facts and law that were earlier the commissioner. No new factual statements or proof allowed.

The exact contents of responses to motions for revision tin vary a lilliputian from canton to county, but they tend to exist quite similar. i) State your requested relief; ii) state the facts before the courtroom (refer to the declarations before the commissioner); iii) state the issues the judge is being asked to make up one's mind, what you lot believe the appropriate determination is, and why; 4) state the evidence you're relying upon (the documents that had been submitted to the commissioner); 5) provide whatsoever legal authorisation and legal argument y'all believe is relevant; and 6) provide a brief conclusion (optional). Here's an case of a response to a revision motion.

Often parties submit no written response to a motion for revision, considering they think their original submissions (the ones prepared for the commissioner'due south hearing) are sufficient.

Three. Where & How to Transport Your Documents.

You should make several sets of copies of all the documents you're submitting in response to the motion. Take them sent to the following destinations:

ane. File the Originals. File the original set with the clerk'southward office for the county superior courtroom. Normally this is done in person, but some counties, such as Rex Canton, offer electronic filing through a web portal. Electronic filing is near always optional for unrepresented parties (parties without attorneys) – you can almost certainly file physical copies the old-fashioned mode if you're representing yourself.

2. Working Copies to the Jurist. Deliver a gear up of working copies for the judge or commissioner hearing the case. Ask around at the courthouse to detect out where working copies get. There's probably a drop box someplace. Often you'll need to postage stamp the upper correct corner of the first page and fill in the stamp'southward blanks with routing data. You lot'll know, because there'll be a stamp of this sort sitting next to the working copy drop box. Routing data means the date and time of the upcoming hearing and where the working copies should go. You can find out where the document are supposed to go by looking at the moving party'due south calendar notation (or evidence cause club, sometimes called an order to go to courtroom). The documents get to the judge, commissioner, or hearing agenda named there.

When delivering working copies, you might also need to insert the peak document into a machine that marks the time and date y'all dropped off your materials. If then, there'll be a motorcar sitting side by side to the working copy drop box.

Equally with filing documents, some counties have electronic systems for submitting and routing working copies. Rest assured, you probably don't have to use the electronic organization if y'all're a layperson representing yourself.

3. Serve a Set on Each Party. Serve a gear up on every political party to the case. Often there'southward only one other political party – the party who filed the motility. Only sometimes in that location are more, such as a Guardian advert Litem and/or canton prosecutor.

Yous can find the allowed methods of serving documents in How to Serve Papers in a Washington Land Divorce. It applies to you even if you're not involved in a divorce. Skip to that articles third section, captioned "How Exercise I Send Documents that Don't Need to Be Personally Served".

4. Save a Set. Save a set of your responsive documents for your ain records.

IV. If You Demand More Time.

If you demand more than fourth dimension to respond or to hire an chaser, you should request a continuance. As stated to a higher place, a continuance pushes out the hearing date. Usually you can get a continuance by simply reaching out to the moving party or his or her chaser, if any. Granting a constancy of a week or ii is an expected professional person courtesy. For more than on that, run across the offset section of the article Advice for New Family Law Attorneys.

If the moving party won't grant the continuance, doesn't know how to do it, or doesn't provide you with proof of the continuance, yous'll want to show up for the hearing date. You can orally request the continuance from the judge or commissioner, and he or she will commonly grant it.

5. Objecting to the Answer.

A reply is supposed to be a rebuttal and no more. It'south NOT an opportunity to bring up new allegations. Similarly, it needs to accommodate to the rules of evidence, the well-nigh notable of which is hearsay. Yous've probably already read about hearsay in the article on drafting declarations, mentioned above.

If the other side violates these rules, you tin submit a written objection.

The objection should be filed and served in the same fashion every bit your responsive materials. There isn't a articulate deadline for the submission. Just get information technology to the court and other parties quickly as you're able.

VI. Arguing the Hearing.

Generally you must show up at the time and place listed in the calendar note (or evidence cause society, sometimes chosen an gild to become to court). If y'all don't, the courtroom almost ever enters the moving party's requested relief by default. You Demand to show upward.

Sometimes yous can announced telephonically or by streaming video, such equally during the pandemic. Simply you need to announced alive in at least some chapters if in that location's oral argument scheduled. Almost all motions are with oral argument unless you're informed otherwise.

At oral statement, no political party is immune to introduce new facts or show. Oral statement is based purely upon the facts submitted prior to the hearing and the law. The courtroom will expect the moving political party to orally argue offset, unremarkably for no longer than five minutes. Then yous will exist allowed to respond orally, also unremarkably for no more 5 minutes. Frequently the court grants the moving party a brief oral reply. Finally the courtroom renders its oral decision. The parties take notes of what the jurist says, because parties commonly draft the orders.

Seven. Presenting Orders for the Court to Sign.

It'due south a good idea to bring draft orders with you to the hearing. Typically the jurists asks the substantially prevailing political party (or his or her attorney) to typhoon orders that reflect the court'due south oral ruling. Assuming y'all're in the courthouse in person, the parties and so go into the hallway. The substantially prevailing political party prepares draft orders for the opposing party's review. Assuming both parties are in understanding on the language, they sign the orders at the bottom and return to the hearing room (court) for the jurist's signature(s). If the parties tin can't agree on the language, they ask the jurist to make up one's mind the drafting dispute.

That's it! Our firm believes in making quality legal information available to anybody on the internet. For more free articles, guides, and videos, please click visit our website and click the resources link (upper right corner).

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Source: https://www.genesislawfirm.com/respond-motion

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